The term Castilian Spanish can be used in English for the specific dialects of Spanish spoken in north and central Spain. Sometimes it is more loosely used to denote the Spanish spoken in all of Spain as compared to Spanish spoken in Latin America; however, there are several different dialects of Spanish as well as other official languages in Spain.

Now, the Castilian Spanish of Spain is as British English is for those in England. Just as Portuguese in Portugal is as for those of Portuguese from Brazil. The country of origin keeps its dialects and its own sounds intact. As for the explorers who brought their languages to the new world, the customs of the people and their own tribal languages had an affect to the languages brought by the explorers. So now, you have people from Latin America or the New World speaking different from those in Spain, England or Portugal.

So we wish to retain the original usage of this phrasebook relating to the whole regions of Spain where Castellano is spoken in its original form apart from the Spanish from Latin America. Particularly you shall notice all those 'th' sounds with the tongue sticking out between the teeth. Like for example the ci, ce, the d and the z get those 'th' sounds. The 'j' and the 'ge' and 'gi' gets guttural.

Pronunciation guide

This pronunciation usage is related to Castellano or the official language spoken in Spain. You will be understood if you travel from Latin America to Spain. There will be a few differences in sounds or words but you'll shall notice it here in this phrasebook. You shall notice the differences in sounds when it comes to Castilian Spanish.

Stress

Words that end in S, N or a vowel are stressed on the next to last syllable. For example:

Vowels

In Spanish, the vowels remain constant and it is the consonants that vary: Castilian Spanish-speakers use the "theta" sound for Ci, Ce, D and Z - it sounds like the "th" in the word "tooth". So in Madrid, the word zapatos sounds like `thah-PAH-tos'.

a

like 'a' in "father"

e

like 'e' in "pet" ( at times this sound may be long as the 'e' in "bled" )

i

like 'ee' in "speed"

o

like 'o' in "order"

u

like 'oo' in "goose

y

like 'y' in "simply" ( this letter by itself represents 'and')

Consonants

b

like 'b' in "boy"

ca

like 'ca' in "café"

ce

like 'the' in "there" [theh] /the tongue ought to be between both teeth/

ci

like 'the' in "thesis" [thee]

co

like 'co' in "cork" [koh]

cu

like 'coo' in "cook" [koo]

ch

like 'ch' in "church"

d

its more palatalized than the English 'd' at the beginning a word and between vowels and at the end of a word its pronounced as 'th' as in "this" and at times it becomes silent.

f

like 'f' in "fish"

ga

like 'ga' in "gargle" [gah]

ge, gi

have a guttural sound like the 'ch' in "loch" or the 'ck' in "block" [kheh,khee].

go

like 'go' in "going" [goh]

gu

like 'goo' in "good" [goo]

gua

like 'gua' in "Nicaragua" [gwah]

güe

like 'gwe' in "Gwen" [gweh]

gue

like 'ge' in "get" [geh]

gui

like 'gee' in "geek" [gee]

h

this letter is silent and its not pronounced

j

this sound is always guttural and a throaty sound like the 'ck' in "block" [kh]

Writing time and date

Spain uses the Western European Time (WET) which includes like most of Europe the 24 hour clock. So you'll find train and other public schedules in the 24 hour clock form eg. 13:00am/pm. When telling time in Spanish, it is expressed by Es la for 1:00 only. And Son las for 2:00, 3:00, 4:00 and so on.